Microsoft 365 is about to gain what Redmond is modestly calling “the best virtualized Windows and Office experience delivered on Azure.” Virtualization slingers Citrix and VMware might beg to differ. Amazon, of course, has its own WorkSpaces product running on AWS.

Virtualization of a Windows desktop is nothing new and provides a way of keeping tight control over corporate desktops without having the deal with an army of disparate hardware. However, it can also be prohibitively expensive from a licencing perspective and often complex to set up.

Due to make an appearance in preview form by the end of the year, access to Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) is free for Microsoft 365, E3, E5 or F1 customers or Windows E3 or E5 customers, although you’ll obviously still have pay for Azure virtual machines on which to run the thing.